Monday, January 13, 2014

Amiri Baraka – A remembrance

Recently
Amiri Baraka, the poet, playwright, and political activist, passed away. I happened to read two tributes to Baraka
from my former classmates of the 1971 class of Arts High in Newark, New Jersey. One tribute was by Larry Hamm who is a
political activist and a leader of the organization People Organized for
Progress. The other tribute was by
Monica Hand who is a poet.

While
I never had a personal relationship with Baraka, I was always interested in his
views. Saying this, I must also say that
I had serious political differences with many of his expressed ideas. However, I’m writing this remembrance because
Amiri Baraka influenced my life in spite of our disagreements.

In
order to appreciate how Amiri Baraka influenced my life, we first need to look
at a bit of history.

Newark N.J. in 1967

Most
histories of the Civil Rights movement follow this narrative. Courageous individuals organized to overturn
the hated Jim Crow laws that deprived Black people of citizenship rights in
this country. Then, in 1964 and 1965 the
government passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act that
effectively outlawed Jim Crow. While all
of this is true, I believe we need to add a bit of information.

The
Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act failed to make significant changes
in the standard of living for most Black people who routinely experienced
discrimination. It was primarily the
issue of police brutality that caused Black people in hundreds of cities across
the United States to rise up in open rebellion.

However,
the media in this country viewed these rebellions as “riots.” The news media, as well as government officials,
argued that these so-called “riots” were carried out by criminals who needed to
be arrested and prosecuted.

Larry
Hamm reported that Amiri Baraka was the first person he knew of who called
these uprisings rebellions. When Baraka
did this he, in effect, linked these rebellions to revolutionary movements that
have erupted throughout the world. This
would include the revolution that established a nation called the United States
of America.

This
stance was particularly important because there was a vacuum of leadership in
the Black community at this time.
Malcolm X had been assassinated in 1965.
Martin Luther King was alive at the beginning of these rebellions but he
was out of step with what was happening, largely because of his advocacy of
non-violent civil disobedience.

However,
the owners of this country needed to take notice of these events. They had huge investments in the cities that
were in rebellion. They also knew that
suppressing these rebellions with the National Guard would only be a temporary
fix.

So,
after these rebellions some Black people began to have educational, employment,
and housing opportunities they never had before. This clearly did not end discrimination, but
the standard of living improved for many.
These advances opened the door for the women’s movement, the movement
for Latino Rights, as well as today’s movement in support of immigrant rights.

Arts High in 1967

We
happened to start our first year of Arts High School the same year as the
rebellions in Newark. Looking back at
that time, we can say that those rebellions had a tremendous impact on all our
lives. During our time at Arts we
experienced the longest teachers strike in the history of the United
States.

While
the teachers organized, the students also began to understand that we had the
ability to wage demands that supported our interests. Larry Hamm, Monica Hand, and I were some of
the students who walked out of our music class demanding that the study of Jazz
be included in our lessons.

During
this time Amiri Baraka had a headquarters a block away from Arts High. I remember the stunning large African
sculptures that were in the front window of that building. At the time, the only thing I knew of Africa
was its place on a map.

Larry
Hamm remembers that Amiri Baraka spoke to the students at Arts High. At that time, I didn’t really understand his
message. One thing I began to understand
was the fact that Baraka had a problem, not just with one or another issue, but
with the entire political system in this country. At that time, I was beginning to make these
same conclusions.

Arts
High was a run down school that was grossly underfunded. However, there were several suburban schools
in the area that looked more like country clubs. Back in those days I began to think that this
gross disparity in funding for education did not happen because of a mistake or
a lack of sensitivity. No, some schools
were funded less than others because of a profound problem with this political
system in this country.

A Black Writers conference

About
ten years ago I attended a Black writers conference in Philadelphia. At the end of the conference, Amiri Baraka
participated in a panel discussion with several other writers. He appeared to be at home and part of the
family on the stage with these writers.

At
that time, I had just read James Baldwin’s collection of nonfiction writings
titled The Price of the Ticket. This was one of the most insightful books
I have ever read and I asked the panelists what they thought of Baldwin’s work.

Amiri
Baraka spent some time in answering this question. He was a close personal friend of Baldwin and
called him Jimmy. He not only read The Price of the Ticket, but he read it
continuously looking for new ways to interpret Baldwin’s work.

No,
I didn’t agree with Amiri Baraka on many questions. However, I respect the fact that he
continually searched for the truth. In
that journey, he influenced many to look at the world in a different way.

About Me

I am the author of the novel "Looking Back From 2101." My novel imagines a future world where poverty and discrimination are no longer a part of the human condition. My blog contains articles and poems that I've written over the years. Many of my poems are biographies of historical figures who I have found to be inspiring.